Thanks to the people who posted their absinthe collections.
Here is my collection of absinthe and related stuff:

I started collecting absinthe spoons about 15 years ago after reading an article about absinthe in Scientific American, and then going to an antique mall where I found my first spoon.

I agree with Dave that Ted Breaux's absinthes are the best you can buy because they are historically accurate copys. I have tasted them and they will be the next bottle(s) of the stuff I buy, but I don't have the money or the will to add another bottle to my collection at this time.

Edouard Pernod (125 year old bottle) this would be the prize of my collection if it had not been opened in the 1920s. It is so air oxidized it tastes like wet cardboard flavored vodka. (Thanks again to Ted for showing me what it used to taste like). Deva Absenta, Philip Lasala Absenta and Montana Absenta are from Spain and all taste pretty good. Sebor Absinth is the only product from the Czech Republic I have tasted that I like. La Muse Verte from France and Herbsaint from New Orleans are two good Pastis bottles I have at this time. If you ever visit New Orleans and need an Absinthe substitute for your tiki bar, buy some Herbsaint it tastes good and it is under $10 a bottle. Hills Absinth is just nasty, don't even try it, the only people on earth that drink this stuff are British soccer hooligans.

If you are going to collect spoons, I suggest you get Marie Claude Delahaye's spoon collectors book (L'Absinthe, les Cuilerès). It is in French but once you figure a few words you can use even if you don't speak the language (I don't).

It classifies every known antique spoon and a few repro spoons by style, rates each and every known spoon by rarity. There is a photo for each one also. It shows you how to spot forgeries every thing you need to know absinthe spoon collecting.

Otherwise you will be like a coin collector wondering why one coin is worth $1 and almost the exact same one is a million.

> How about bleu cheese? "See that big beast over there? The one with the
> bulbous gland swinging underneath? What we do is we squeeze that gland
> until juice starts to come out. We leave the juice to lay around until
> it gets all hard and dry and fungus grows on it. Then we eat it.
> Delicious!"

Hmm. This is SO reminiscent of Robin William's postulation of the creation
of the sport/game of Golf.

Canada is one of the countries where absinthe is legal(ish) - but the real deal is rare to find. I picked one out of three brands the main liquor branch in Vancouver had (mid-priced, from France) called Absente. Didn't realize til later that there was no wormwood or thujone content inside, even if the very NAME of the stuff practically screams it out for the buyer (roommate stamped a big 'Duh' on my forehead over that one).
Bought some actual powdered wormwood from an herbalist nearby to see if I could conjure an approximation, but haven't found the time for the research (probably do it around Halloween).
Haven't actually cracked the Absente for a taste - I did, however, try a raw pinch of the wormwood. Hey, I'll try anything once - I'll lick the sidewalk if someone says "Hmm, wonder what THAT tastes like?", but raw wormwood is a big no-no. Honestly, the first thought was to grab the jigsaw and separate myself from my tongue as fast as possible.

...OK, my curiosity got too piqued, so I cracked the Absente.
Good little kick to it, tastes like concentrated German licorice with a hint of some citrus.

A French company is going to start marketing an absinthe called Lucid here in the US. They claim that it's the real deal, made with "Grande Wormwood". They also claim to have tested several bottles of absinthe dating from the 19th century, and found that they contained negligible amounts of Thujone.
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Lack of real Absinthe in the USA has nothing to do with prohibition. Wormwood is the 2nd most bitter herb. Real absinthe is made by soaking wormwood (and other stuff) in the alcohol and then distilling it. Real Absinthe has a nice flavor only because the bitter flavors are left in the stillpot. Don't add wormwood to booze and expect to make absinthe.

Real wormwood is classified as a illegal food additive by the FDA. If any liquor contains wormwood it can not be sold in the USA. Herbsaint is the best substitute I have found in the USA, but I have not tasted Lucid so it may be good too.

I don't know what thujone has to do with any of this, a box of stove top stuffing contains more thujone than most bottles of absinthe. It is not an indication of how real any bottle of absinthe is.

Using a 16 oz. Glass, pour the booze first, then pour the pineapple juice to mix. Top off with large cube ice, stir lightly and serve. Some might want to halve the recipe, but why mess around? Garnish with whatever...or not. You'll probably just put your eye out anyway.